GM to Close Saab Brand

Area Development News Desk

12/18/2009

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General Motors Company (GM) will begin shutting down operations of its Saab brand after talks collapsed with a Dutch company that had expressed interest in acquiring the Sweden-based automaker. The company says in a statement that the company began seeking a buyer in January of this year in accordance with the U.S. government mandate to streamline company operations in exchange for a financial bailout. "We regret that we were not able to complete this transaction with Spyker Cars," says Nick Reilly, president of GM Europe. "We will work closely with the Saab organization to wind down the business in an orderly and responsible manner." According to The New York Times, GM acquired a 50 percent share in Saab in 1990 and the remainder in 2000. GM filed for bankruptcy protection for Saab in Sweden last February; the company is on pace to sell fewer than 10,000 Saab cars in the United States this year.